{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-503.090","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 503.090","heading":"Use of physical force in law enforcement.","body":"(1) The use of physical force by a defendant upon another person is justifiable when the\ndefendant, acting under official authority, is making or assisting in making an arrest,\nand he:\n(a) Believes that such force is necessary to effect the arrest;\n(b) Makes known the purpose of the arrest or believes that it is otherwise known\nor cannot reasonably be made known to the person to be arrested; and\n(c) Believes the arrest to be lawful.\n(2) The use of deadly physical force by a defendant upon another person is justifiable\nunder subsection (1) only when:\n(a) The defendant, in effecting the arrest, is authorized to act as a peace officer;\nand\n(b) The arrest is for a felony involving the use or threatened use of physical force\nlikely to cause death or serious physical injury; and\n(c) The defendant believes that the person to be arrested is likely to endanger\nhuman life unless apprehended without delay.\n(3) The use of physical force, including deadly physical force, by a defendant upon\nanother person is justifiab le when the defendant is preventing the escape of an\narrested person and when the force could justifiably have been used to effect the\narrest under which the person is in custody, except that a guard or other person\nauthorized to act as a peace officer is justified in using any force, including deadly\nforce, which he believes to be necessary to prevent the escape of a person from jail,\nprison, or other institution for the detention of persons charged with or convicted of\na crime.","path":["KRS Chapter 503"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=19675","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T21:00:00Z","sha256":"1607f255dbb6d224321c45af5da1f2360058256cf4cd90463ea4e62e070e69e3","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-503.085","next":"us-ky/krs-503.100"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}